Freeh Appeals Delay in Spanier Lawsuit with Superior Court

An attorney for Louis Freeh has filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Superior Court regarding a county judge's decision to delay a lawsuit targeting Freeh's investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Freeh's attorney, Robert Heim of Philadelphia, filed the appeal Tuesday just days after Centre County Judge Jonathan Grine denied an emergency motion to reconsider the delay.

In February, Grine ruled the lawsuit filed by former Penn State President Graham Spanier could be delayed until the resolution of Spanier's criminal case related to an alleged cover of Sandusky's abuse.

Heim filed an emergency motion last week asking the judge to reconsider his decision to delay the case. The judge denied the request the following day without a hearing.

Penn State hired Freeh, former FBI director, to investigate the handling of the Sandusky scandal. Spanier claims he was defamed in the subsequent Freeh Report, which found that senior Penn State administrators intentionally covered up Jerry Sandusky's child sexual abuse.

In his report, Freeh says Spanier and others, "repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, [PSU's] Board of Trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large."

Spanier's attorneys claim those allegations are both false and defamatory. They are asking for monetary damages.

Spanier and two other former Penn State administrators face several criminal charges including perjury, failing to report child endangerment and conspiracy related to the alleged Sandusky cover up.

Grine ruled in Spanier's favor last month, saying "There is a substantial risk that ... any or all of these individuals could invoke their Fifth Amendment rights during the civil action and refuse to participate in the discovery process (of the lawsuit)."

Heim argues it could be years before Spanier's criminal case is resolved, further delaying the civil case.

"Defendants are thus unfairly between the classic 'rock and a hard place,'" Heim wrote in an appeal.

Jennifer Miller is a reporter for StateCollege.com. She has worked in journalism since 2005. She's covered news at the local, state and national level with an emphasis on crime and local government.
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